Court sets bail at $448,000 for Zelensky's ex-deputy chief of staff suspected of money laundering

The High Anti-Corruption Court on Aug. 25 placed Iryna Mudra, a former deputy head of the President's Office, in custody for two months in a graft case and set bail at Hr 20 million ($448,000).

Mudra is the latest high-ranking official close to President Volodymyr Zelensky to face charges this year, as the major corruption scandal engulfing his administration continues to unfold, with new allegations and cases emerging.

Mudra said she would "try to find" the money to pay the bail, including with the help of her "friends." Prosecutors initially sought Mudra's detention and a bail of Hr 150 million ($3.4 million).

Mudra has been charged with organized crime, money laundering, and corporate raiding.  

An anti-corruption prosecutor said at another court hearing on Aug. 25 that “a member of the criminal group” based in Israel had transferred cash to Mudra to pay ex-Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko’s bail. The hearing concerned pre-trial restrictions for Sense Bank CEO Oleksiy Stupak.

The prosecutor's statement was an apparent reference to Timur Mindich, a close Zelensky associate and a suspect in the probe into state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom — the largest corruption investigation of Zelensky’s tenure. Mindich fled to Israel last year.

“If Mindich is paying, then we can also put up the money for other, lower-level corrupt officials," ex-lawmaker Maksym Mykytas said on the tapes cited by the prosecutor. "The channel is already in place, and we’re keeping it open.”

Mudra also said on the tapes that Sense Bank was helping them not just because she instructed it to, but also because Halushchenko and Mindich were involved, according to the prosecutor.

According to the NABU tapes, a person whom Mudra calls "Timur, an Israeli refugee" — an apparent reference to Mindich — asked her to take over Sense Bank.

Mudra and Mykytas are accused of laundering Hr 150 million ($3.4 million) in bail money through the state-owned Sense Bank for Halushchenko. The court ordered Mykytas's detention on Aug. 21, setting bail at Hr 30 million ($671,000).

According to search warrants, unidentified individuals from the President's Office also tasked Mudra with bringing Sense Bank under the control of the President's Office.

Zelensky dismissed Mudra on Aug. 19 following the charges.

Separately, the NABU released recordings on Aug. 20 implicating Mudra in an alleged criminal group that illegally seized real estate.

During the hearings on Mudra’s bail, an anti-corruption prosecutor quoted a conversation recorded by the NABU indicating that, in addition to her salary, Mudra received $20,000 a month from an unexplained source.

In another conversation, Mudra and Mykytas discuss an apartment she had purchased, even though her official income was insufficient to afford it, according to the prosecutor.

She also failed to declare a Range Rover worth 120,000 euros, the prosecutor said.

Mudra has denied any wrongdoing.

If bail is paid, the former official will be obliged to wear an electronic bracelet, report a change of residence, not leave Kyiv without permission, not communicate with other suspects, and hand in her foreign passports.

Speaking about the recent corruption scandal, Zelensky said he had no further details and that the information already made public was sufficient to dismiss Mudra. He added that the anti-corruption agencies "had no questions" for him.

Under Ukrainian law, a sitting president is immune from prosecution.